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Qalaat Al Mudiq
‏ @QalaatAlMudiq1h1 hour ago
#Syria: acc. to 1st reports target bombed tonight is located N. of #Aleppo Airbase in Malikiyah district. Area was already hit on 29th April by #Israel. This time casualties are reported.

MOSCOW — Iran has no intention of leaving Syria regardless of U.S. and Israeli pressure, a senior envoy to Iran’s leader said Friday, reaffirming a tough stance on the issue expected to top the agenda of the upcoming U.S.-Russian summit.

The statement from Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came in the wake of his meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Putin that Israel wants Iran to leave Syria.

The high-level talks precede Monday's summit in Helsinki between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, who are set to discuss the Iranian presence in Syria.
Tensions rise as Russia, Iran send warnings after US shoots down Syrian warplane
Tensions rise as Russia, Iran send warnings after US shoots down Syrian warplane

Russia on Monday threatened aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in Syrian-controlled airspace and suspended a hotline intended to avoid collisions in retaliation for the U.S. military shooting down a Syrian warplane.
By: Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press, Nataliya Vasilyeva, The Associated Press

Both the U.S. and Israel want Iran to pull out of Syria, while Russia has warned it would be unrealistic to expect Iran to fully withdraw from the country.

A possible deal could see Syrian troops replacing Iranian forces and its proxy Hezbollah militia in the areas near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Velayati reaffirmed Iran's firm intention to maintain its presence in Syria, but skirted a question about a possible pullback from the border, saying only that Tehran won't bow to U.S. and Israeli coercion.

"We coordinate the Iranian presence in Syria with Russia and Syria," Velayati said during a meeting at Moscow's Valdai Club discussion platform. "We will be present there the way we consider necessary. Sometimes we will play our role in Syria open-handed, sometimes we will do it with our hands hidden."
US military to keep Persian Gulf waterway open despite Iran threats
US military to keep Persian Gulf waterway open despite Iran threats

The U.S. military is reiterating a promise to keep Persian Gulf waterways open to oil tankers as Iran renewed threats to close off the region.
By: The Associated Press

While Velayati maintained a combative tone, his careful response reflected the intense diplomatic maneuvering ahead of the Helsinki summit.

He expressed skepticism about the outcome of the meeting, repeating tough criticism of the U.S. and saying he didn’t expect Trump to make any positive contribution to stabilizing the Middle East.

Velayati argued that Iran along with Russia helped stem fighting in Syria and prevented the country from falling to the Islamic State group and other militants, scoffing at the U.S. demands to leave.

"We have come there without the Americans' permission and we won't heed their demands to leave," he said.

Velayati also strongly warned Russia against listening to the U.S. arguments about the Iranian presence in Syria.

“I told the Russian officials: Now the Americans are telling you that the Iranians must leave Syria and tomorrow they will ask you what you are doing in Syria,” he said. “They are trying to split our alliance.”

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

#BREAKING: Earlier this week, my #Israeli sources told me that #Syria|n UAV which was shot down by #Israel's Patriot PAC-2/GEM+ on 11 July was an Israeli UAV. Here is the evidence. Pictures of its wreckage show that was a #Russia|n Air Force's Forpost (Israeli made Searcher II).

Babak Taghvaee
@BabakTaghvaee
#BREAKING: My #Israel|i Military Sources told me that what my #Syria|n Military Sources are telling me about #Israel Air Force airstrike against #Nayreb AB at #Aleppo tonight is disinformation for covering up a shame! They claim…

Babak Taghvaee
‏ @BabakTaghvaee
14 min
#BREAKING: My #Israel|i Military Sources told me that what my #Syria|n Military Sources are telling me about #Israel Air Force airstrike against #Nayreb AB at #Aleppo tonight is disinformation for covering up a shame! They claim that explosion was due to mishandled ammunition!

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

Military operation comes hours after 15 buses arrived to take about 500 fighters to the opposition-controlled north.8 hours ago

A Syrian soldier stands next to a Syrian flag in Umm al-Mayazen in the countryside of Deraa [Omar Sanadiki/Reuters]

Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad widened their offensive in the country's southwest to an adjacent province, days after reaching an evacuation agreement with rebels in southern Deraa province.

Pro-government troops, backed by Russian air support, bombed a rebel-held village in Quneitra - an area adjoining the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - as they look to recapture a strip of land straddling Deraa and Quneitra provinces still in rebel hands.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighter jets it believes belong to the Russian air force overflew the village of Mashara, located 11km away from the Golan frontier.

Earlier in the day, rebel fighters and family members began evacuating southern Deraa city on buses that will take them to opposition-held areas in northern Syria.
WATCH Syria's Deraa: Regime raises flag in cradle of protest movement (2:39)

A rebel official, Abu Shaima, told the Reuters news agency at least 500 fighters boarded 15 buses and he was one of those leaving.

The rebels left the Deraa al-Balad neighbourhood that had been under their control for years until a surrender deal last week. Under the agreement, fighters handed over weapons and those who did not wish to live under state rule were transferred out.

One rebel fighter, Abdullah Masalmah, also told Reuters he does not "trust the Russians or the regime".

"I cannot forget the thousands of those who were killed by the regime let alone the orphans, wounded, and the detainees," he said.

The buses, which were parked on a main thoroughfare connecting the city's government-held north with its rebel-held south, were searched by Russian forces before setting off just after midday for Idlib province.

Syrian state television broadcast images of white buses it said were carrying the fighters, their blue curtains drawn, surrounded by military forces.
Deraa recaptured

The Syrian government, backed by the Russian military, captured most of Deraa province in an offensive that began in June.

Deraa city was the scene of the first major peaceful protests against President Assad's authoritarian rule in March 2011.

A group of teenage boys scrawled anti-government slogans on the walls of a school, kickstarting popular unarmed protests across the country. However, Assad's brutal response resulted in a full-fledged war with world powers supporting various armed groups.

An estimated half a million people have been killed with 11 million more displaced in more than seven years of conflict.
THE STREAM Syria: How do everyday people survive in a war zone? (25:00)

Syrian state news agency SANA said on Sunday rebels handed over heavy weapons to the Syrian army, showing images of armoured vehicles and artillery it said had been collected.

It marks another milestone in Assad's efforts to recover control of Syria, months after the Damascus rural area of Ghouta was recaptured in a bloody air-and-ground offensive in which more than 1,400 people were killed.

He now holds 80 percent of Deraa province, but parts of its western countryside and most of the adjacent province of Quneitra still escape his control.

Some 160,000 people displaced by the government's offensive on Deraa are still trapped in Quneitra.

On Sunday, government forces fired hundreds of missiles as part of the first such attack on the province in more than a year when Russia, the United States, and Jordan agreed to a ceasefire for parts of the south, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Instant News Alerts
‏ @InstaNewsAlerts
8m8 minutes ago
#Breaking: Reports of a #Russian delegation that arrived in #Israel on an unannounced visit and held meetings with military officials and political figures. #Russia

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

MEMRI
‏Verified account @MEMRIReports
3m3 minutes ago
Reports and photographs indicate that Iranian and Iran-affiliated forces have not only remain in southern Syria but have even strengthened their presence there, with Russia's knowledgehttp://ow.ly/S9H530l1ZnT

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

#BREAKING: Israeli IDF confirms: Israel helped to rescue 800 White Helmets and families from Syria and moved them to a neighboring country "at the request of US & European gov" - this is "one-time" opp becauae their lives were in danger

The IDF operation that took place around midnight was under media blackout in #Israel until now in an attempt to make sure all the #WhiteHelmet workers & their families were safely evacuated from #Syria.

A civil defence member ('White Helmet') runs at a site hit by an airstrike in the rebel held besieged Douma neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria. (photo credit: REUTERS/BASSAM KHABIEH)

Some 800 Syrians affiliated with the White Helmets and their families are being evacuated from Quneitra through Israel to Jordan, according to the IDF Spokeperson's Unit. Syrian Civil Defense, the official name of the White Helmets, is a volunteer organization that has worked in rebel areas of Syria providing medical support during the Syrian conflict.

According to a Bild report published Saturday night by Paul Ronzheimer, Giorgos Moutafis and Julian Ropcke, around 800 Syrians were transported across the Syrian-Israel border. “From there on to Jordan,” the article states. “They are members and families of the famous White Helmets.” Those evacuated will continue on to the UK, Canada and Germany, according to Bild.

The evacuation was kept secret and began at 9:30 p.m. Minibuses took the families through the border in the “dark of night.”

The AP reported on Thursday that US officials had been “finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred Syrian Civil Defense workers.” A Syrian source familiar with the White Helmet operations in southern Syria said he was surprised to learn of the sudden evacuation because Jordan had not allowed the White Helmet volunteers to evacuate over the last few weeks.

The Syrian regime launched a large offensive in June that has retaken the rebel-held areas in Dara’a and Quneitra bordering Jordan and the Golan.

The Syrian rebels agreed to a reconciliation with the regime Friday and their areas were mostly surrendered by Saturday night, leaving only a sliver of territory near the border and within the 1974 ceasefire lines.

Many of the tens of thousands of Syrians who had fled the fighting began to return home or to take buses to the northern Idlib province where some of the rebels have agreed to go.

The request to receive the White Helmets came from various members of the international community, including the United States and other European countries, according to the IDF Spokeperon's Unit.

According to Ronzheimer, the evacuation was “still ongoing” after midnight. He tweeted that the UN was involved, although the full details remain largely unknown.

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

Arabic media: Israel obtained list of Iranian targets in Iraq“The implementation of this threat would represent a change in the rules and an attempt by Tel Aviv to expand the map of the game,” the Arabic website Al-Jarida wrote.

By Seth J. FrantzmanJuly 21, 2018 00:03
1 minute read.

Revolutionary Guard
Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011.. (photo credit: REUTERS)

Israel has obtained a “list of targets inside Iraqi territory,” according to the Arabic website Al-Jarida. The media outlet claims it learned from “informed sources” that Jerusalem has a list of “Iranian military sites used to transport weapons and equipment to Syria.”

Al-Jarida says it obtained exclusive photos of some of these targets, including border crossings with Iran near Mehran, east of Baghdad, and another near Basra. “Israel has monitored these sites. The sources pointed out that Iran was attempting to create a land corridor from Tehran via Baghdad to Syria.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps controlled some of these sites, including a base at Rutba, and other sections of roads leading to Syria.

“The implementation of this threat would represent a change in the rules and an attempt by Tel Aviv to expand the map of the game,” the website wrote. It linked the new focus of Israel on Iraq to the southern offensive by the Syrian regime near Quneitra. Israel has warned that Iran must withdraw its forces from Syria. In June, a US official alleged Israel had carried out an air strike near Albukamal in Syria that targeted an Iraqi Shi’ite militia. The militia, although it was Iraqi, was in Syria supporting the Syrian regime as part of the IRGC’s support for Bashar Assad. Israel has expressed concern about Tehran’s attempt to build a corridor of influence, including the training of tens of thousands of militias in Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Syria on Friday.

Nana to two "little bits", one not-so-little "little bit" and one 6' college bound "little bit"

#Pt. Dozens of fighters belonging to #Iran|-led militias took position around the convoy of displaced people coming from #Quneitra & blocked since hours now. #Russia|n forces called to enforce agreement.

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